Fascinating Intergalactic Interlopers
by nostalgic1
Summary: AU. It has been three years since Undefined Fantastic Object and Reimu is tired of being so inactive from adventure. Little does she know though, a new incident is about to happen that will affect Gensokyo like never before. Plus, a surprise that could change the lives of Reimu and her friends. (DISCLAIMER: Touhou project is owned by ZUN).
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Gensokyo

It was around the time of sunrise, the time well known to be a symbol of beginnings. As it rose, the sun started pouring light across the land, much like an ocean wave moving across the sands of a beach. The light eventually reached Gensokyo, a mysterious and magical land where many incredible events took place, and where many powerful entities live, both human and beyond. Every time though, there was always one girl in the center of those events, one girl who made sure that Gensokyo got out of trouble unscathed. That girl was Reimu Hakurei. She along with some friends at times, ventured to incredible places from low to high and beyond, fighting overwhelming forces. Soon though, Reimu and all of Gensokyo will face a powerful threat that will pressure them like never before.

The sunlight eventually reached the Hakurei Shrine, where it slowly began to light up the room with the light of a new day. Reimu noticed the morning light shining through the fabric of the shades with the radiance of dawn, causing her to open her eyes. Reimu looked over at the bedroom to her right and then at the ceiling for a few minutes. Then she sat up and stretched, got out from under the covers of her bead, and walked over to her closet in front of her bed. There, she opened the closet, got out of her light blue pajamas and into her traditional red and white shrine maiden clothing. Then Reimu walked to the right of her closet and out of her room through the door.

Reimu thought to herself _'Ah, what a nice morning.'_

Reimu was looking around the living room, pleased to see it so clean after that unexpected party Suika decided to throw, with Reimu being an unexpected host along with her. Reimu was slightly irritated but also slightly grateful to Suika and all who attended since it did relieve some stress with her job with all the recent inactivity. After recalling yesterday's events, she noticed Suika asleep sitting up at the living room table with her head face down on the table.

Reimu became slightly irritated and said "Good morning, Suika."

Suika softly moaned before lifting up her head, looked at Reimu with her tired eyes and said "Oh hey, Reimu. How'd you sleep last night?"

Reimu answered "I slept fine, and I see that you slept at the living room table."

"Yeah, after helping you clean up, I decided to have some more sake before going to sleep. I guess I ended up sleeping here though. A bit uncomfortable at first, but I got used to it." Suika mentioned. She took her drinking gourd she carried around all the time in front of her with her right hand, shook it and said "At least I didn't waste any."

Reimu asked "Did you shower last night?"

Suika thought for a moment about the question before lifting up her left arm to smell her armpit and then replied "No, I didn't."

Reimu said "Ok then, no breakfast for you until you take a shower."

"Fair enough" Suika responded, and she walked over to the bathroom in the back area of the house.

After seeing Suika shut the door, Reimu looked at the table and noticed a spot that was darker than the rest of the brown wood table. Reimu touched it with her finger and it felt oily. She made an annoyed expression on her face upon discovering Suika's body oils from her head, so Reimu went to the left of the bathroom where the kitchen was and came back with a wet, soapy kitchen washcloth. Reimu picked Suika's gourd off the table with her left and wiped the table clean with her right hand. Then she walked up to the bathroom door and asked "Suika, would you like me to wash your drinking gourd?"

"Sure, go ahead, thanks." Suika replied from within the bathroom with the water of the shower running.

Reimu then went into the kitchen where she washed Suika's gourd and prepared some fried eggs, fried rice, and bacon to eat for breakfast.

When Reimu was done cooking, Suika was dressed and out of the shower and the two friends sat down at the living room table to eat.

Half an hour later, Suika got up and said "Thanks for the meal, Reimu. I think I'm going to go walk around the human village a bit."

"Suit yourself." Reimu responded.

Suika then walked over to the front sliding door, opened it and went outside. Reimu remembered that there was some sweeping to do in front of the shrine so she walked over to the closet to the left of the front entrance, took out a broom after opening it and outside.

Reimu looked over at the donation box in front of the shrine, wondering if maybe she got a bountiful amount of donations. As usual though, there was very little money inside and Reimu let out a sigh at the sight. She shrugged it off though and began to sweep.

After ten minutes had passed, Reimu looked up into the sky and started thinking about the earlier times back when she used to go out on adventures and solve incidents from her first quest to the time she was dealing with Byakuren Hijiri. Three years had passed since then and nothing that big ever happened during that time, which was causing Reimu to feel rather restless. Reimu then focused on the present again, and was about to continue sweeping until she saw a familiar figure flying through the air.

The girl landed feet first on the ground and said "Hey Reimu."

"Hello Aya. What are you up to?" Reimu wondered.

Aya answered "Oh you know me, just trying to get scoops for articles. So, has anything interesting happened lately?"

"No, nothing as usual, you must be bored if you're trying to get a scoop here." Reimu said.

Aya replied "Ah ha ha, kind of. Hey Reimu, can I ask you for a favor?"

"Depends, what is it?" Reimu wondered.

"Can I take your picture? The more pictures of people and places I take, the better my chances of thinking up some articles." Aya mentioned.

"I don't know, I'm not in the mood to smile." Reimu said.

Aya said "I'll throw in a donation."

Reimu replied "Ok, you win."

Aya tossed a silver coin into the donation box and then took a picture of Reimu smiling.

"Thanks Reimu," Aya said "I gotta split now so I can take more pictures and whip up some articles. Catch ya later."

"Bye Aya." Reimu replied.

Aya waved her hand and then flew off in the direction of the village. As for Reimu, she just went back to sweeping.

Another ten minutes later, Reimu sensed someone flying towards the shrine while she was looking at the broom sweeping across the ground. Reimu looked up into the sky and saw a very well-known friend flying on her own broom. The girl landed right in front of Reimu and said "Hi Reimu."

Reimu said "Hi Marisa, how are you?"

"I'm ok; I'm just looking for things to do today after getting bored of studying magic earlier this morning. Once again, that was a nice party you held last night Reimu, and on such short notice."

Reimu added "Yeah I know, it was so quick I didn't know I was going to hold it."

Marisa laughed "Ah ha ha ha ha ha! Well look on the bright side, Reimu. At least you now have experience at quickly getting ready for parties."

Reimu said "I suppose, but that's easy for you to say."

"I know it, ze." Marisa replied with a grin.

Reimu made an annoyed glare at Marisa, but then both girls let out some good laughs.

Then Reimu asked "So what do you think your plans will be for the day?"

Marisa responded "Eh, I don't know. Maybe I'll go shopping at the village, borrow some books from Patchouli, visit Alice and then study more magic for the rest of the day."

Reimu said "You know, Marisa? One day I think Patchouli's really going to get back at you for taking her books."

"I guess I'll have to make precautions then." Marisa retorted. "So how about you, what are you going to do today?"

Reimu thought and answered "I don't know… Oh! I just remembered, I need to get some groceries after I'm done sweeping."

"I see, well I think I'm going to take off then." Marisa said, but just before she left, she noticed Reimu looking up into the sky. This caused her to ask "What's up, Reimu?"

Reimu looked back at Marisa and replied "Oh, I'm just thinking about how we used to go out on adventures. Now it seems like there isn't much for me to do anymore except for taking care of the shrine as usual. Don't get me wrong though, I'm fond of the peace we've had around Gensokyo, I just thought that I would have achieved something meaningful or at least be better off financially."

"Ah, well you did manage to make a lot more friends though, Reimu." Marisa mentioned.

Reimu responded "That's true, that was something nice to add to my life."

"Yeah, and just try to live in the moment and do your best, that's what keeps my spirits up." Marisa added.

Reimu said "I guess you have a point Marisa, thanks."

"No problem, ze." Marisa replied "Well I'm leaving now, have a nice day."

Reimu said "Thanks, you too."

Marisa got back on her broom and took off onto the sky. As for Reimu, she just went back to sweeping for the next thirty minutes.

After the half hour had passed, Reimu went back in her house, put the broom away, and flew off towards the village.

When Reimu arrived in front of the Human Village, she landed on the ground and decided to walk the rest of the way since she didn't want to make a scene. After ten minutes of walking, Reimu entered the village and began her errands. She walked through the streets and marketplaces, collecting the many items she needed to put in the kitchen back home. As Reimu walked, she looked at all of the villagers roaming around, seeing that and young and old were happy and prosperous. After seeing some children run past her, Reimu smiled at how peaceful the village had become, especially after seeing some youkai moving around, which the villagers had become more tolerant of. This caused Reimu to wonder if the residents would soon change the name of the village.

Reimu's walk eventually led to the heart of the village where surprisingly not many people were around. Then she saw Sakuya walking around, holding some grocery bags of her own.

Reimu greeted "Hi Sakuya."

Sakuya looked to her left, saw Reimu and replied "Oh, hello Reimu. How are you?"

"I'm doing fine, I've been going grocery shopping and I'm almost done. How are you?" Reimu replied back.

"I'm doing well, I would have to say I'm doing the same thing, and almost done as well." Sakuya answered.

Reimu said "Oh? I thought the mansion had its own ability to make food and was well stocked up."

Sakuya explained "We do, I'm just getting some special food that can only be found in the village, as well as some blood packs for the master and her sister."

Reimu responded "Wait, where do you get your blood?"

Sakuya answered "At the clinic. They're well paid. Master Remilia thinks it's best that she gets her blood in less disturbing ways for the sake of the peace with humans."

"Oh, that's nice." Reimu responded.

The two girls then heard someone approaching from the left side of town, so they looked in that direction and they saw Youmu carrying a huge, heavy bag on her back.

Youmu set the heavy bag down on the ground, let out a sigh of relief and said "Hi Reimu, Hi Sakuya, how are you?"

"I am well." Sakuya replied.

"I am too." Reimu added "So, shopping for Yuyuko I assume?"

Youmu responded "Yeah, quite the chore, and this is only half of it."

"Oh my! I had no idea Yuyuko was such an eater. And you still need more?" Sakuya said.

Youmu replied "Thankfully, no. I have some help today, and what I have on my back now is enough for a week so I thought I should buy twice as much food so that I wouldn't have to come here next week."

Reimu wondered "So who is helping you?"

Youmu looked behind her, as did Reimu and Sakuya and they Komachi coming towards them from out of a crowd of people, carrying a bag of groceries that was much like Youmu's. After she put the big, heavy bag down on the ground, Komachi said "Phew, Hey Youmu, why did we stop? Oh, hi Reimu, Hi Sakuya."

"Hello Komachi." Sakuya replied.

"Hi." Reimu added. Then she turned to Youmu and asked "How did you get Komachi to help you?"

Youmu explained "A few days ago, Komachi was trying to avoid work and she ended up sneaking into Hakugyukurou Manor. After doing some things under our noses, Shikieki came over to the manor when she figured out that's where Komachi was and flushed her out of hiding. Shikieki gave a lecture to Komachi and then decided as punishment, Komachi would do chores at the manor for three days, after Shikieki got permission from Yuyuko."

Sakuya wondered "But what about Komachi's job of guiding the souls of the dead?"

Youmu answered "Shikieki said that she would take care of it."

Komachi said "I miss my old job; there was so much to do back at the manor."

Sakuya said "Neglecting work only makes it grow, and besides Komachi, work can be quite nice if you look at it the right way."

"I've been doing work longer than you and I don't know what you're talking about." Komachi responded.

Sakuya assured "If you think about it enough, you'll figure it out."

Reimu added "Yeah, just look on the bright side, Komachi."

"The only thing I can think about my work right now is how surprisingly heavy it is." Komachi mentioned.

Reimu said "Yuyuko eats a lot, doesn't she?"

"That's almost an understatement." Youmu replied "Well I think we should be going back home."

"Great, let's get this over with." Komachi mentioned.

Reimu said "Bye Youmu, bye Komachi, have a nice day."

Komachi smiled and replied "I'll try thanks."

Youmu added "Yeah we will, goodbye."

After putting the bags back on their backs, Youmu and Komachi walked away to head back home.

Sakuya said "I think I will be heading off as well."

Reimu replied "Oh, ok."

Sakuya said "Goodbye Reimu."

Reimu spoke back "Bye Sakuya."

Sakuya then walked away from Reimu and went in the direction of the Scarlet Devil Mansion. As for Reimu, she continued to walk around the village to finish getting the last items on her grocery trip.

After getting all the food she needed, Reimu decided to go back home. As she walked down the road she was on, Reimu noticed a tan colored stone wall she never noticed before to her left. Reimu continued walking down the road until she was in front of an archway made of marble. Past through it though was a huge temple made of marble, bronze, silver and gold, with golden spires on the four towers that surrounded the main part of the temple that was a dome with a gold roof. There was also some marble sidewalks extending along the healthy green grassed lawns and, and a golden rectangular sign on the top part of the archway that had the words "Temple of Atelon."

Reimu thought to herself _'Oh come on! How am I supposed to compete with that!? And just who or what is Atelon? I've never heard of a word like that. Hmmm, I wonder what kind of religion this is…'_

Reimu pondered about what kind of temple she was looking at, but then she shrugged it off and continued walking.

Just before Reimu left the village, she saw that she was close to Myouren Temple and that Byakuren Hijiri was talking to some human and youkai children right in front her. The kids ran off after Byakuren was done talking, passing by Reimu and that was when Byakuren saw her.

"Oh, why hello Reimu, how are you?" Byakuren greeted.

Reimu replied "Hi Byakuren, I'm doing fine, how about you?"

Byakuren replied "I am well. The temple and village have just been prosperous, and the weather has been just wonderful."

"Yes it has," Reimu said "and you sure have made a good deal of progress teaching humans and youkai to get along."

Byakuren responded "Thank you, the reward of seeing the fruits of such labors has been a blessing."

Reimu asked "So how is everyone else at the temple doing?"

"They are well." Byakuren answered "They have been a bit busier than usual, but they are well."

Reimu then mentioned "Hey I just came across a place I have never seen or heard of in the village. It was called the Temple of Atelon; do you know what it's like?"

Byakuren replied "Ah that place. I do not know much about it other that they're new and have started to become quite popular with the local villagers. Perhaps I should visit to extend a friendly greeting and find out what they're like."

"I see, so you don't know much." Reimu said.

"Yes, I have been rather busy myself." Byakuren mentioned.

Reimu said "Ok, well I think I'll be heading back home now, I still need to put away the groceries I bought."

Byakuren replied "Of course, it was nice talking to you, Reimu."

Reimu spoke back "You too, bye."

The two girls waved goodbye and then Reimu walked past Byakuren in the direction of her home. When she got out of the village, Reimu flew all the rest of the way back home.

Once Reimu got back to the Hakurei Shrine, she went inside, put away the groceries and fixed herself some sashimi and rice balls for lunch. After her meal, she did some cleaning around the house for most of the afternoon. When Reimu was done cleaning, she went outside behind the shrine where she set up a hammock a few weeks back. She got onto it, lay down, enjoyed the shade and the gentle breeze blowing by, and then just took a nap. After an hour passed, Reimu heard some footsteps coming towards her so she opened her eyes and saw Suika looking down on her.

"Hey Reimu, it's dinnertime. Can you make something please?" Suika mentioned.

Reimu responded "Alright, sure."

So Reimu got out of the hammock and went back inside the house with Suika. Reimu then made some curry and bread rolls for Suika and herself to eat and the two girls sat down and at the living room table.

Before taking a bite out of her first bread roll, Reimu said "One of these days I'm going to teach you how to cook."

"Ok, if you want me to set your house on fire again." Suika mentioned.

Reimu replied "I've made precautions for that."

Suika responded "Oh c'mon Reimu, I'm not as a good a cook as you."

Reimu said "Exactly my point, it will help you and it will help me."

Suika surrendered "Oh alright."

A few minutes later, Suika noticed that Reimu had a daydream expression on her face so Suika asked "So what are you thinking about?"

Reimu looked at Suika and answered "I was just wondering if we will ever experience exciting events and incidents life we used to in the past."

Suika replied "Hmmm, who knows. All I know is that things have been peaceful, so that means more time to relax."

Reimu said "I wish I could be as carefree as you."

Suika asked "Would you like me to teach you?"

"I'll pass." Reimu answered.

Suika replied "Ok, but if you change your mind, let me know."

Nothing else was said at the table after that, so when they were both done eating, the girls just each did their own thing, with Suika drinking lots of sake and Reimu just reading a book of drama. After doing this for a few hours, both girls got ready for bed and went to sleep. One thing that they didn't know though was that later that night, they were going to get a very unexpected awakening.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

The Mysterious Boy

It was a dark, quiet night, a perfect atmosphere for sleeping. Little could be seen outside except for the many stars in the clear black sky above. For a good part of the night, everything was peaceful, but then a bit past one in the morning, something started to happen.

A bright, shining orange dot suddenly appeared in the dark night sky. Slowly but surely the light became larger and larger until finally its form was more apparent, a large burning fireball the size of a house. It flew across the sky at an incredible speed until it came crashing down near the Hakurei Shrine.

BOOM!

The loud noise startled Reimu and caused her to instantly spring up fully alert, wondering what just happened outside. She went over to her closet to get her robe on, and then left her room. Reimu was about to head outside until Suika came out of her room, rubbed one of her tired eyes and wondered "Hey Reimu, did you hear that noise too? What was it?"

Reimu replied "I don't know, but I'm going to find out."

Reimu and Suika then walked out of the house. The two girls went over to the backyard and they saw a large crater that was almost as big as the yard, with small flames here and there burning some patches of grass.

Reimu's jaw dropped and shouted "Are you kidding me!? How the heck am I supposed to take care of all this!?"

Suika said "Well, we could turn it into a pool later."

Reimu became annoyed with Suika since she preferred it the way it used to be. But then she looked down at the bottom of the crater and saw something she never expected. Reimu thought that there was going to be a meteor at the bottom. Instead though she saw a brown haired young man with some of his clothing torn up and a sheathed sword behind his back, with the guy only looking to be a bit older than Reimu and he was unconscious.

Reimu and Suika just looked at the boy, then at each other, then at the boy again and then Reimu wondered "How did he survive intact after crashing into the ground?"

Suika replied "Your guess is as good as mine. All I'm wondering about is whether he's alive or not."

Reimu went down into the crater until she was in front of the young man. She kneeled down and rolled him over on his back, and then she put her head on his chest and listened with her left ear. Reimu heard his heart beat as Suika made her way down in the crater too.

"He's alive." Reimu said.

Suika replied "Wow, he sure is tough."

Reimu told her "We need to bring him inside. You carry him in and I'll get the first aid kit."

"Alright" Suika responded, and picked up the boy in her arms and walked back in the house with Reimu.

Reimu quickly got out a futon and pillow out from a closet and placed them to the left of the living room table where Suika placed the boy afterwards. Reimu went into the bathroom where she opened a large cabinet across from the sink where she put the towels and got out the first aid kit, and then she went back to the boy to look at his wounds.

Reimu applied medicine to the cuts and bruises she found on his body and wrapped some bandages around the cuts.

Suika was over by their unexpected guest and said "Something is strange about this guy."

Reimu wondered "What do you mean?"

"Well for one, he isn't burned anywhere where as your backyard was, and even his clothes don't look burned. Secondly, I can tell from experience that the injuries he received were not from crashing down on the ground but from something else. Lastly, just where did he fall from the first place?" Suika mentioned.

Reimu replied "You're right, that is strange. Just who is this?"

The two girls just stared at the boy for a minute and then Suika said "Well since everything has calmed down around here, I think I'm gonna go back to sleep."

Reimu replied "Alright, I think I'll just watch over him for the rest of the night."

"Hmmm, you seem to be growing fond of him." Suika responded with a playful grin.

"Don't get any ideas." Reimu retorted.

Suika quietly snickered as she went back to her room to sleep again. As for Reimu, she got out another futon and pillow and placed them to by the wall, which was far enough from the mysterious young man to make it look like they weren't a couple. But before she went to sleep, Reimu thought she should watch over her new guest. Two hours later, Reimu got tired enough to finally decide to go to sleep, she went to and got into her futon and slept away.

A while after, morning came around and shined through the front Japanese sliding door, which caused Reimu to wake up. Reimu sat up and stretched and then she looked over at the boy to her left. She got up to see how he was doing, until she noticed that her guest's bruises had somehow disappeared. Reimu got down on her knees to get a better look at him, but then the boy finally opened his eyes up and noticed Reimu. After sitting up, the two just stared at each other for a moment until the young man said "Oh…hi."

"Um…hi" Reimu spoke back.

The two just stared at each other for another moment until the boy asked "Where am I?"

Reimu answered "You're at the Hakurei Shrine in Gensokyo."

The boy thought for a moment and then wondered "What is Gensokyo?"

Reimu explained "Gensokyo is a place that's isolated from the rest of the world where people and youkai live. It's just outside of Japan, protected by the Hakurei Border."

The boy thought about what he just heard of and he said "I see."

The boy got out of the futon and noticed his torn blue shirt and slightly torn tan colored pants as well as bandages in the spots where his clothes were torn.

"Did you do this?" The boy asked.

"Yes, you were injured in a lot of areas." Reimu informed.

The boy said "Thank you, I am alright now."

The boy ended up ripping the bandages off with his bare hands, with surprisingly no sign of the large cuts either.

"How did you do that?" Reimu wondered.

The boy asked "Do what?"

"Heal so quickly." Reimu mentioned.

The boy told her "I went through some special training that caused my body to heal more quickly than an average person."

Reimu thought about what he said and then asked "Who are you?"

He replied "My name is Alex Archwing, and you are?"

"Oh, my name is Reimu Hakurei; I'm the shrine maiden here." Reimu replied back.

Alex said "Oh…well nice to meet you, Reimu."

Reimu noticed that Alex was a bit uncomfortable for some reason so she asked "What's wrong?"

"Oh it's nothing…" Alex responded.

Hearing that it was a sensitive topic, Reimu decided to change the subject by asking "So where are you from?"

"…A very far away place… I don't feel like talking about it." Alex answered.

Reimu could see that their talk was taking a depressing turn so she said "Well…you're free to stay as long as you like, so you can relax and plan what you should do next."

Alex replied "Oh, thank you."

Reimu could see that she improved Alex's mood a bit, which caused them both to smile. Then Suika's door opened up with Suika dressed in her usual attire as she walked out of the room. She saw Reimu and Alex awake and she said to Alex "Hey, you're awake."

Alex said "Oh, I take it you also helped me out, thank you. My name is Alex Archwing, and who are you?"

"Suika Ibuki, nice to meet you" Suika replied.

Alex looked at the horns on Suika's head and he said "Um, excuse me for asking, but what are you?"

Suika replied "I'm an oni."

"What's an oni?" Alex asked.

Reimu explained "It's one of the many types of people that live here. The oni are a troll like race that are known to be big and strong."

Alex paused for a moment and asked "What's a troll?"

Reimu and Suika looked at each other puzzled, then back at Alex and Reimu said "You don't know what a troll is?"

Suika sighed "This could take a while…"

"Well, how about I read about your culture at a library or something?" Alex suggested.

Reimu thought for a moment and then mentioned "I don't know any official libraries, but I know a place where we could go. The Scarlet Devil Mansion has its own library, and I'm well associated there."

"Oh thanks." Alex responded.

Reimu added "But first we should clean up this mess and eat some breakfast."

So after the living room was cleaned up and Reimu got dressed, she went over to the kitchen and made some omelets for Suika, Alex and herself to eat. After the meal, Alex thanked Reimu for the food and looked at his feet wearing some plain white socks and he asked "Where are my boots?"

Reimu pointed to the front door to her left and replied "By the door."

Alex looked over to the right of the front door, found his brown boots and put them on after walking over to them. He also saw his sheathed sword leaning on the wall so he took the strap and put it around his back and chest, with the sword behind his back. Once Reimu was done putting the dishes in the sink, she went up to Alex who said "I really don't think it's a good idea for me to go outside with such raggedy clothes."

Reimu thought for a moment and then mentioned "I have an old rain coat in the closet you could borrow. It's a bit worn out and may be a bit tight, but at least it should cover up your torn up shirt."

Reimu walked over to the closet by the front door, pulled out an old cloth rain coat, gave it to Alex and he put it on.

"So are we off then?" Alex wondered.

Reimu answered "Sure, let's go."

Suika said "I think I'll stay here and take it easy."

"That's fine." Reimu replied.

Just before Reimu and Alex could leave, they heard someone outside say "Oh Reimu, where are you?"

Marisa then came into the house and said "Hey there you are, I noticed a huge crater in your backyard on my way over here and I was wondering, where…" Marisa paused as she noticed Alex and then she asked "Well, well, who's this?"

Alex informed "I'm Alex Archwing, and who are you?"

"Marisa Kirisame, a friend of Reimu and Suika." Marisa replied. "So Reimu is he your boyfriend?"

"Aw, I should have said that." Suika jokingly added.

Reimu angrily said "I swear, you guys…" Then she calmed down and said "So what brings you here anyway, Marisa?"

Marisa explained "I was just on my way to see you because I saw a meteorite of some kind crash down near the area around your shrine through my telescope. I flew around to find it since I thought I could use it for magical experiments or profits due to the rare minerals, but then I saw the crater it made by your house and I didn't see the meteorite so I thought maybe you knew what happened to it."

Suika mentioned "You're looking at him."

Marisa mentioned "What?" She paused for a moment to think and then asked "How is it that he was able to survive crashing down the way he did?"

"I trained my body to endure hits that far exceed normal people." Alex replied.

Marisa retorted "Well you're full of surprises, aren't you?"

Reimu said "Excuse us Marisa, Alex and I need to go to the Scarlet Devil Mansion."

Marisa wondered "What for?"

"We're going to request some books from Patchouli about customs, cultures and people around Gensokyo. Hopefully, she won't mind." Reimu explained.

Marisa said "Oh, in that case I'll come with you. It would be nice to say hi."

"Didn't you visit them yesterday?" Reimu mentioned.

"Well, not exactly." Marisa replied.

Reimu wondered "What do you mean by that?"

Marisa said "Never mind, let's just go."

As Reimu, Marisa and Alex walked out the door, Suika said "See you later."

Just before leaving though, Reimu saw that the big crater in the backyard was gone somehow.

As Reimu was wondering what happened to the crater, Marisa told her "If you're wondering what happened to the crater, I just used a spell to restore the yard the way it was."

"Wow, thanks Marisa." Reimu replied.

"No problem, ze." Marisa said "Oh Alex, me and Reimu are going to fly over to the mansion, do you need a lift on my broom?"

Alex mentioned "No it's fine; I can fly on my own."

Alex then hovered above their heads and Marisa said "Oh, you can fly too."

Reimu could sense that Alex was able to fly much like herself except with a different energy source of some sort. After just wondering who he really was "Well, I'll lead the way." Then the three of them flew off.

After flying for thirty minutes, Reimu, Marisa and Alex reached the Scarlet Devil Mansion. They flew over by the front entrance and landed there, where they saw Meiling sleeping standing up by the gate as usual. Reimu walked up to Meiling with Marisa and Alex behind her and she said "Meiling, wake up."

Meiling woke up and said "Huh!? What? Oh, it's you Reimu. You caught me with my guard down; uh…please don't tell Sakuya, I just got bad sleep last night."

Reimu responded "It's for your own good."

Meiling sighed "Alright, guilty as charged. Oh, I see you have Marisa with you and also – who are you?"

Alex introduced himself "My name is Alex Archwing, what might your name be?"

"Hong Meiling, I'm the gate guard for the Scarlet Devil Mansion, nice to meet you." Meiling replied.

"Alex is new in Gensokyo. We've come here to borrow some books from Patchouli and ask Remilia for a favor." Reimu mentioned.

Meiling said "Alright, just watch over Marisa for me. I don't want to be held responsible for any scheme she might be planning."

"I'll behave." Marisa said with a seemingly innocent smile.

Reimu told Meiling "We'll watch her."

"Thank you, enjoy your visit." Meiling replied.

Reimu and Marisa walked past through the front gate and while Alex did the same, he saw Meiling smile at him as walked and he smiled back in turn. Meiling then focused back on her task as the three visitors went inside the mansion.

When they got inside, Alex looked around the huge lobby with the fancy carpet and furniture as he, Reimu and Marisa walked through some doors to the left. As they were walking through a hallway, Alex asked "Reimu, what favor were you talking about earlier?"

Reimu explained "Well, since it would make me look weird in front of other people if I went shopping for boy clothes for you, I'm going to ask Remilia to see if she can have some of her maids make some new clothes for you."

"Oh." Alex simply replied.

After a few more minutes of walking through the mansion, Reimu, Marisa and Alex opened some doors and saw the large library room. Alex was in awe of the towering bookshelves filled with thousands of books in front of him and above on the higher areas above, with light shining down from the tall windows. As Reimu and Alex entered the room, Alex looked around to see where Marisa was, but he didn't see her anywhere.

"Reimu, Marisa disappeared." Alex informed.

Reimu stopped focusing on leading the way, turned around and responded "Oh great, she must have snuck off."

"Should we search for her?" Alex wondered.

Reimu replied "No, if I know Marisa she'll be trying to sneak into the library some other way so she can steal more books. Let's just continue and keep a lookout for Marisa."

Reimu and Alex continued to walk around in the library, going past the many dozens of bookshelves. When they got to the middle of the room, Reimu walked to the left as did Alex as he followed her, and they came across a girl with long purple hair, dress and hat sitting on a chair behind a desk that had books, paper and pencils scattered on top of it, with one book in the girl's right hand reading it with a focused, expressionless face. Reimu and Alex walked up to the desk and said "Hi Patchouli."

Patchouli turned her attention to Reimu, set her book down on the desk and said "Oh, welcome Reimu. What brings you here?"

"This guy with me, Alex, he's new here and doesn't really know the area well at all, so I thought maybe if you didn't need them, maybe we could borrow some books on cultures, races and history of Gensokyo." Reimu explained.

Patchouli said "Hmmm, I see." Then she opened up a drawer to her left, pulled out a shiny metal bell and rang it. After that, she put the bell back, got out a notebook and started writing on it with a pencil after grabbing it off the desk. As Patchouli was writing something, Koakuma came over to the left side of the desk from behind some bookshelves and said "You called me, Ms. Knowledge?"

Patchouli tore off the paper she wrote on the notebook and informed "Get me the books on the list Koakuma, they're for our guests."

"No problem, right away." Koakuma replied as she walked off and disappeared from behind the bookshelves.

Alex said "So you're last name is Knowledge?"

Patchouli responded "Yes."

Alex looked around at all of the bookshelves in the room, then back at Patchouli and said "Well you certainly live up to it."

Patchouli slightly smiled as his words slightly amused her and then she asked "So where are you from?"

Alex replied "Um…that's a long story. I don't want to talk about it."

"Oh I see I'm sorry…" Patchouli said, wondering why it was such a touchy subject.

Alex mentioned "It's alright."

Koakuma came back with a few books, gave them to Alex and said "Here you are. So, what's your name?"

"I'm Alex Archwing, nice to meet you, Koakuma." Alex replied as he held out his hand.

Koakuma took his hand and shook it and she responded "Oh…nice to meet you too."

After shaking his hand, Koakuma quickly turned around away from everyone as she blushed a little since she thought Alex was kind of cute. After five seconds went by, Koakuma turned back around with her blush gone.

Reimu mentioned "Thank you for the books. Oh, and before I forget, Marisa is here somewhere and she's trying to sneak in here somehow and steal some books."

Patchouli replied "Hmmm, I'll have to take some precautions then."

Just then however, Sakuya and Remilia came walking down from the right side of the library and Remilia said "Ah Reimu what a surprise, how are you?"

Reimu replied "I'm good; I came over to borrow some books and ask you for a favor."

Remilia said "Alright, but before that I need to ask you all something. Has anyone seen Flandre lately? I can't find her anywhere."

Everyone told Reimu that they didn't see her, which caused Sakuya to suggest "Perhaps we should all split up to find her."

But before they could search, they heard a childish voice say "Marisa let's play!"

"Wait Flandre, don't -!" Marisa's voice sounded.

Everyone looked up at the top of the bookshelf behind Patchouli and they saw Flandre play tackle Marisa and they both fell to the floor with Flandre landing on top of Marisa.

Flandre sat up on Marisa's torso and then hugged her after lying on top of her again and said "I'm happy to see you, Marisa."

Marisa replied "Ugh…yeah, nice to see you too Flan."

Marisa and Flandre both stood up and Remilia asked "Marisa, what were you doing up there?"

Marisa answered "Uh…I was just getting a good look of the room in order to play I spy with Flan."

"And she was trying to take some books up high from the shelves." Flandre added with a happy, innocent smile, which caused Marisa to groan on defeat.

Patchouli said "Really Marisa, you need to stop this. If you need books, you should just ask."

"But that doesn't work all the time." Marisa replied.

Patchouli mentioned "That's because you're either requesting too many books or you demand books that I need and won't wait. You need to be less greedy."

Marisa said "Hey, I'm a girl with many needs."

"Tell you what Marisa," Patchouli said as she pulled out a new, blue book of some sort form a right desk drawer and dangled it with her right hand "I'll let you have this special edition magic book if you give me all the books you 'borrowed' from me."

"Ah! You have THAT book!? I've been looking everywhere in Gensokyo for that! Alright, you have a deal." Marisa replied, and ran out of the library like there was no tomorrow.

Then Remilia asked "By the way Reimu, who is this with you?"

Reimu answered "This is Alex Archwing; he's new here and is the main reason as to why I am here. We came here to get some books that will teach him about Gensokyo and the way things are around here. Plus I need to ask you a favor that concerns him."

"Pleased to meet you" Alex said.

Remilia replied "Nice to meet you as well, my name is Remilia Scarlet, owner and master of The Scarlet Devil Mansion. The woman beside me is Sakuya Izayoi, my head maid."

"Nice to meet you, Mr. Archwing" Sakuya said.

Alex responded "You too, and please, just call me Alex."

Flandre then walked right up to Alex and looked up to his face mentioned "And I'm Flandre, I'm Remilia's sister."

Alex replied "Oh, nice to meet you Flandre."

Flandre just paused for a moment and then she said "You're tall…um, would you like to be my friend?"

"Sure, let's be friends." Alex answered.

Flandre replied "Yay! Let's play!"

Remilia responded "No Flandre, we're busy right now. You can play later as long as you don't play rough."

"Yes sister…" Flandre sighed.

Alex wondered as to what Remilia meant by not playing rough, but then she asked "So Reimu, what favor were you going to ask me?"

Reimu explained "Well as you can see, Alex's clothes are really torn up, so I had him wear an old rain coat to conceal his wrecked shirt so he could come here. So since it would make me look really odd if I bought clothes for Alex in front of other people, I was wondering if you could make some clothes for him."

Remilia said "Sure, we'll have to measure him first though. Sakuya, make the arrangements please."

"Of course, right this way Alex." Sakuya responded.

Alex replied "Ok" and walked off with Sakuya.

After five minutes of walking around the mansion, Alex and Sakuya were in a sewing room with some tables and fabric and other sewing supplies neatly placed on the tables. Sakuya got some measuring tape and requested "Could you take off your coat? I need to measure you accurately."

"Sure." Alex replied as he took off the rain coat he wore.

Sakuya looked at his torn blue shirt for a moment and then started measuring Alex.

Alex asked "Excuse me Sakuya, but if you can, could make copies of the same clothes I'm wearing now?"

Sakuya answered "That's fine, but I'll need some sample cloth."

"You can just cut off some loose cloth from my clothing." Alex said.

Meanwhile back at the library, as Reimu, Koakuma, Patchouli, and Remilia were watching over Flandre and talking with each other, Marisa stormed through the library doors on her broom, landed right in front of Patchouli's desk, put a bag of books on the desk, and said "I'm back and here are the books."

Patchouli pulled out a list from a desk drawer on the right and then took the books out of the bag one by one as she looked at the list from time to time.

Then Patchouli said "That's all of the books you stole from me, thank you."

"Of course," Marisa responded with a grin "now for your end of the deal."

Patchouli retorted "Sure, after you're done being suspended from taking books from the library for three months."

"What!? But that wasn't part of the deal!" Marisa replied.

"Actually it was, I just didn't tell you the whole story." Patchouli mentioned.

Reimu added "You had this coming Marisa."

"Oh, and Remilia and I have increased security around the mansion, so if you try to steal again, expect everyone living here to deal with you." Patchouli added further, casing Marisa to groan in defeat.

Then Alex and Sakuya rejoined everyone and Sakuya said "We're done."

Reimu said "Thank you for all of your help."

Alex added "Yeah, you really helped me out, thanks."

Remilia said "But of course, and feel free to visit whenever you prefer, Alex."

"Thank you." Alex responded.

Flandre tugged on Alex's coat and said "Hey, you'll play with me next time you're here, right?"

"Yeah, of course I will." Alex replied.

Flandre said "Yay, thank you Alex! Don't make me wait too long."

Reimu, Marisa and Alex said their goodbyes and they left the library. After getting outside of the mansion, the three flew off in the direction of the Hakurei Shrine. Halfway though, Marisa said "I think I've had enough disappointment for one day, I'm going home to cheer myself up."

"Alright" Reimu replied.

Marisa said "It was nice meeting you Alex."

"You too Marisa" Alex said back.

Marisa then flew off in the direction of the Forest of Magic where her house was at.

After fifteen more minutes, Reimu and Alex were about to land in front of the shrine, but then they saw some unfamiliar men talking with Suika. Four men were wearing plain iron armor with gold on the edges from head to toe, carrying spears and shields in their hands. The last man was much like the other four men except the main part of his armor was blue, he wore a blue cape, had a sheathed sword attached to a black belt and didn't wear a helmet, which showed his blue hair and blue eyes, and all five men had a gold colored symbol on their backs that looked like a cloud surrounded by rays of light with an eye in the center of the cloud.

Reimu wondered "Who are these people?"

When she didn't hear Alex reply she looked behind herself and noticed Alex was gone.

Reimu wondered where Alex could have gone, but decided to figure out that mystery later as she was wondering what was going on in front of the shrine so she landed close to the group. The blue haired man noticed Reimu land to his left so he turned his attention and walked up to Reimu as did the knights with him and he asked "Are you Reimu Hakurei, owner of this shrine?"

Reimu responded "Yes, why?"

The man informed "My name is Ronad; I am one of the Twelve Guardian Saints of the Temple of Atelon."

Reimu asked "What kind of place is that?"

Ronad explained "It is a place of worship where the Talzem religion is taught and where the god of Talzemism, Atelon is served. Recently, we've been patrolling around Gensokyo helping people and enforcing the peace. We learned that a meteorite came crashing down somewhere around here last night, do you know where it is?"

Before Reimu could answer, she saw Alex in the distance in the forest, silently mouthing the words 'Don't tell them about me.' Then she answered "Now that you mention it, there was a loud boom that came from somewhere to the northwest of here."

"I see. Well thank you for your time, we need to make sure that meteorite didn't hurt anyone and restore the damaged area it did to the forest. Have a nice day and feel free to ask us for help with anything in the future." Ronad replied.

Reimu said "Uh sure, thanks."

Reimu and Ronad said their goodbyes and then Ronad and the knights walked off in the direction of the northwest direction into the forest. Suika and Alex came up to Reimu and Suika questioned "Why didn't you tell him about Alex?"

"Because Alex told me not to for some reason" Reimu informed.

Suika turned her head to Alex and asked "What, why?"

Alex replied "It's complicated, and I don't even know for sure how to explain myself yet."

Reimu sighed "I guess you don't have to tell us now, but you do owe us an explanation soon."

"Fair enough" Alex replied.

Suika mentioned "Hey Reimu, it's lunchtime and I'm hungry. Can you make us a meal?"

Reimu said "Sure, I'll get to it."

While looking at the two books in his hands, Alex said "I suppose I'll start reading in the meantime."

Then the three of them started walking back into the shrine, with Reimu and Suika seeing as Alex got more mysterious by the minute.


End file.
